New to Arizona. I have lived on both coasts...I may be working my way inward now. :) I am the mom of a pretty awesome 14-year-old boy (though at this point he would wig out on my saying boy, kid or anything less than teenager) and the wife of a very amazing man. I have been blessed beyond measure when it comes to love, and isn't that really where the blessings count the most? I like to watch people and often I like to comment. I also enjoying helpling people, but I kind of get saddened by seeing the same person always in the same boat. EDIT: Okay I am not so new to Arizona, but I still have been here less than two years. Love it and my husband more and more each day!!!!!!
With Christmas coming, it is really nice to find all these blogs who have awesome gift guides to inform you and some pretty awesome giveaways too. I thought that I would give you a little peak and five from one of the sites I love. Trust me though, there are many more, and I plan to show a few more in the days to come. First though, let's start with The Dirty Shirt. The Dirty Shirt has great product reviews that always seem relevant to what I am looking for. And right now there is a great Holiday Gift Guide. Be sure to check it out. There are a lot of giveaways there too, but here are the FIVE I thought I'd focus on.
I am hoping to do a serious fitness turnaround in the upcoming year. One of my big hopes is to get my hands on the awesome Wii Fit Plus and Jillian Michael's new Wii game Ultimate Fitness Challenge 2010! Talk about a motivator! The Dirty Shirt just happens to be hosting a giveaway right now thanks to the Sports Authority who is partnering with Nintendo to seriously help us all make some fitness headway. Enter now, because this giveaway ends on 12/2!
I love board games. Actually my whole family does. One of my favorite things to do is to kick back and just enjoy some family time with a good game. It can be Monopoly, Cranium, Scattegories or really just about anything that gets the family going. This is the reason I jumped for the giveaway at The Dirty Shirt. The game is called Blurt, and my son will LOVE it. He loves games that are fast paced. I love games that involve words. Blurt is totally a win-win. This giveaway ends on 12/08
When I was a little girl, I loved to make believe play. I use to save up macaroni and cheese boxes and other items to make up my pretend kitchen. I had some plastic goodies too and a little pantry. Recently I was perusing the other fabulous giveaways at The Dirty Shirt, and I found Pretend Play Kitchens! They specialize in high quality wood playthings! They have everything your child will need to have some serious fun! They have kitchens and simple accessories. I cannot wait to show these items to my husband! Right now you can enter to win a cupcake stand set. This set is high quality construction, but totally cute as can be! This giveaway ends on 12/6
The next giveaway I'd like to highlight from The Dirty Shirt is for a $100 gift card to BevShots. When I first saw the posting. I thought it was for some kind of online liquor store. I read on and was wowed by what I saw! You have to check this out. BevShots are prints of beers, wines and cocktails photographed under a microscope and turned into art! I thought I'd see gigantic bubbles. Oh definitely NOT! Check this out. You will not be disappointed. Giveaway ends on 12/01
I need a getaway. I love road trips, and I guess it is from my Griswold kind of upbringing but road trips are my ideal vacation. There is nothing like taking a trip across the country and seeing another neighborhood, town, and another way of life. This is the main reason I HAD to enter The Dirty Shirt giveaway for a one night stay at The Holiday Inn Express. Check out the review! It is pretty darn nice! The Holiday Inn Express also has a great breakfast start! This is an awesome giveaway that you really should take a chance on. Giveaway ends 12/2!
This wasn't one of my reads, but I did want to share.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Amy Lathrop of the Litfuse Publicity Group for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Margaret lives with her husband and two daughters in a Chicago suburb. Her book, A Mother’s Heart Knows was published by Thomas Nelson in 2005. Go Back and Be Happy, a co-authored book will be published by Lion Hudson in July 2008. Margaret has been featured on Greg Wheatly’s “Prime Time America,” TLN’s “Aspiring Women,” and LeSea’s “The Harvest Show.” Margaret writes freelance articles for The Daily Herald, the largest suburban Chicago newspaper. Notable interviews include Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Kinkade, Susan Branch and Dr. John Gottman. Margaret also wrote a feature article for crosswalk.com. With a master’s degree in international business, Margaret became a vice president in the corporate finance division of a New York City bank and worked there from 1986-1993. Supporting charitable causes is important to Margaret. For the past five years, she has served on the board of directors for WINGS, an organization that helps abused women and their children get a new start in life. Margaret would love to meet you too.
List Price: $12.99 Paperback: 192 pages Publisher: Moody Publishers (July 1, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0802458629 ISBN-13: 978-0802458629
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
LOVE CAN WARM THE COLDEST HEART
By Susan May Warren
Ephesians 4:32: (ESV): Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Angels of Forgiveness
I felt as if I had been slapped. I gaped in horror as I stared at the empty storage room and tried to comprehend my mother-in-law’s words, “ . . . and we even made $200!” She had sold all my worldly possessions without my permission. She was trying to be kind, but in doing so, she plowed a cavernous furrow through the garden of our friendship. I knew it would never bloom again.
Our family had just returned home after serving as missionaries for four years in Russia. We still hadn’t found a place to live, and my mother-in-law wanted to help by clearing out room for us in her unfinished basement—in the space our hundred boxes of lifetime treasures once occupied. She’d sold everything from hand-knit sweaters to homemade
quilts. Only a forlorn crate of John Denver records and a bag of used mittens remained.
The money she handed me from the proceeds of the sale felt like blood money. I had waited for four years to unwrap my wedding china, greet my books and knick-knacks, and slip back into my fine dresses. I couldn’t believe I had put so much value on possessions, but I had, and now I was stripped.
Then I discovered she’d sold my Christmas ornaments. Every year since childhood my mother had given me a special gift at Christmas, a new and unique tree decoration that symbolized my life for that year, as well as her love for me. The box of heirloom ornaments I had so carefully packed had been sold for a dollar; my memories traded for the price of two cheeseburgers.
A ball of anger swelled in my heart. As I curled in my bed, sobbing out my grief, the ball gained momentum and became an avalanche, burying any tendril of love I had left for the mother of my husband.
Christmas loomed close and everywhere I saw beautiful, glittering Christmas trees. My tree was naked, its arms bare against the white lights. Where was the golden star with my name etched on it, or my tiny porcelain piano? How could she have done this? I felt entombed by my anger.
Sometime in January I realized I had missed the joy that came with the advent season. It couldn’t penetrate my icy heart. I could barely look at my mother-in-law, despite the fact she begged my forgiveness. “I didn’t know how much this would hurt you,” she said, weeping. “I was just trying to help.” I turned a stone heart to her plea. Frost laced the edges of our conversations and although I said the words, “I forgive you,” my soul
was an iceberg and I knew I had not.
In the past, my mother-in-law had been my greatest supporter, encouraging me, helping me pack, babysitting, and stuffing thousands of newsletters. She had cried with me, prayed for me, and tolerated me living in her home. I missed her and knew that if I wanted warmth to reenter my heart, I had to forgive her. But nothing could ease the ache of losing my memories. I avoided her and resolved to live with the pain.
When we moved away in February, I slammed the door on our relationship and didn’t talk to her again. Three days before the following Christmas, a parcel arrived at our
front door, my name etched on the front. Mystified, I opened it. Then, surrounded by my family’s astonished gasps, I unwrapped, one by one, a collection of angel ornaments.
From bears with wings and halos to gilded crystal angels holding trumpets, I hung a choir of heavenly hosts on my tree. Finally, I sank into the sofa as my children examined the
decorations, oohing and aahing.
“Who’s it from?” my husband asked. I retrieved the box, dug through the tissue, and unearthed a small card. Merry Christmas—Love, Mom was scrawled out in my mother-in-law’s script. Tears burned my eyes and, as I let them free, my icy tomb of anger began to melt. My mother-in-law was not able to retrieve the past she had so carelessly discarded, but she was hoping to build a future, our future. And it would start with these angels, proclaiming the love and forgiveness that entered our world. If God could forgive me, who stole His Son’s life, certainly I could forgive my mother-in-law for stealing my . . . stuff.
Easter arrived and with it forgiveness finally flowered in my heart. We descended upon the in-laws for a visit and I wrapped my husband’s mother in a teary embrace. I had lost the little stuffed bunnies my grandmother had knit for me, but I had gained something better—the fragrance of forgiveness, and the everlasting hope that love can warm the coldest heart.
I received this award yesterday from Vicki at Reading At The Beach! I am truly thrilled that she kindly chose to give this to me, and I just can't wait to get started. Be sure to drop by and say hey to Vicki. She has some awesome reviews up, some giveaways and some fabulous photography. Plus...if you log in and just shut your eyes, you will be transported to the ocean thanks to her soothing beach sounds.
The rules of this one is to list ten honest things about me and then pass the award on to ten other book bloggers.
1~ I am a huge fan of reality television like Survivor, The Biggest Loser, and Big Brother. 2~ I am not a fan of reality television shows like Real Housewives of anywhere, Bad Girls, and the like. 3~ I love sunflower seeds in the shell. 4~ I long to go on a cross country trip like I did when I was in my teens. 5~ I love to de-stress by coloring in vintage Barbie coloring books (her hair isn't so big in them). 6~ I really have a need to nurture and wonder if it is because my son is 14. 7~ I was an extra in a movie once. We watch it and play "Where's Kelly." 8~ I love playing shoot em' up zombie video games. 9~ If I am overly tired, I will talk in my sleep and wake up because I hear how odd I sound. 10~ I miss 80s fun music.
I'm passing this on to:
Kalea Kane@ EnRoute To Life Irene@ Irene's Desk Colletta@Colletta's Kitchen Sink Luanne@A Bookworm's World Indigo@Outside My Head Sandra@Musings Of A Book Addict Zia@My Life In Not So Many Words
As They Grow Up is hosting a review and giveaway for a beautiful 7.5 to 8.0 mm Pink to Peach Freshadama Pearl Bracelet from Pearlparadise.com. Talk about beautiful. The color is magnificent, and who wouldn't want to wrap a lovely pearl bracelet on their wrist? This awesome giveaway ends on 12/5!
My husband and I have often thought about changing out showerhead to something that is more environmentally responsible. The problem is, we are clueless. I was especially interested in the review and giveaway for a Waterlily Showerhead review and giveaway from Evolve at Piece of Me. The Waterlily is efficient and gorgeous in brushed nickel or chrome, and what is better than knowing you are not wasting our water (a true valuable resourse). This giveaway ends on 11/28!
One of the TOP items on my Christmas wish list is a cute little apron from Flirty Aprons. I have just drooled over these beauties. The trouble is...we are doing Christmas very small this year, and I don't know what my husband is going to actually pick for me. I figured why not take a shot at the amazing giveaway that is being held at Heck Of A Bunch! These aprons make cooking more fashionable! Giveaway ends on 12/2!
Another great giveaway you have to check out is at Amanda A Stay-at-Home Mom's Point of View. She reviewed the very cool Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System and now she has an update WITH a giveaway for a Clarisonic Mia. The pictures of how clean you can get your skin really makes one want to rush out and get one. Go take a peak and take a chance! This giveaway ends 12/5!
This year my wonderful husband picked me up a Wii! I was beyond thrilled. It is so much fun to play with AND it is great for getting exercise. You know what would make me even more happy? Adding Jillian Michaels’ new fitness game for the Wii and a Wii Fit Plus board! My husband may consider it, but for now I am totally taking a chance and you should too by heading over to Santa's Picks because they are teaming up with the Sports Authority for this awesome giveaway. Yes! One lucky reader is going to win the new Jillian Michael's fitness game for Wii and the Wii Fit Plus board! This giveaway ends on 11/27! Get moving!
There are a few other bloggers spreading the good news of the fabulous Wii Fit Plus board and Sports Authority! Many are also offering a chance to win. One of those is Rockin' Mama (got to love that name). She got super fit after her pregnancy with the use of the Wii Fit. And now she is also offering her readers a chance to win the new Jillian Michael's fitness game for Wii and of course that rockin' Wii Fit Plus board! Head on over, because this giveaway ends on 12/3! What a Merry Christmas it would be!
Who could use some extra cash? With all the Christmas expenses looming, I cannot imagine who would not want in on this one. Saving Money Plan is having a giveaway for $50! Yep...FIFTY DOLLARS CASH! Not only that but Saving Money Plan has some great money saving tips and a coupon course. Go for the win, but stay for all the information that will help you become more financially savvy. I have no idea when this ends so you might want to get to steppin! :)
When I was a little girl, I had a favorite yellow umbrella. I liked it because it reminded me of the girl on the salt box. I also did not have a lot of choices. I did have a friend who had a clear umbrella. Now that I am all grown up, I am continually thinking "If only..." when I see all the advances and, let's face it, cool stuff for kids out there. Check out Kidorable Umbrellas. They are colorful and perfectly child friendly! Fun and Funky Mommy has a wonderful giveaway for a Kidorable umbrella. I have someone in mind who would just love this. How about you? Giveaway ends 12/5!
Another fabulous blog is offering a fabulous Kidorable umbrella giveaway. Head on over to Mommies With Cents for your chance to win. This giveaway ends on 11/26! While your there, you might want to check out their coupon page for printable coupons from Smartsource. There are lots of great deals right at your fingertips!
In a prior post I glossed over the fact that I really want to win James Patterson's "I, Alex Cross." Okay...nope...I didn't gloss over it at all. I do really want to get my hands on it, and I have every intention of it. I just have to either wait until after Christmas to purchase it or win it from Karen at Bookin' with Bingo! That is right! Thanks to Hachette Book Group, Karen has FIVE copies to giveaway! Who wouldn't want to dig into a James Patterson novel for the holidays? Go now, because this giveaway ends on 11/30! This is beyond awesome!
Make a Proclamation and be entered to win $5,000 to pursue your dream! Enter daily and bring friends to increase your chances of winning. There are weekly prizes too. No purchase necessary.
What are the first 5 things that entered your mind?
1. Are those red things plumgers? 2. Those are some tiny little bunny-like turkeys (don't ask me why). 3. Glad I'm having a ham that I am not even cooking. 4. I remember when we raised turkeys and they were terribly obnoxious. They used to bump my mom over when she gardened. 5. Powdered donuts (again, don't ask why).
What are the first 5 things that entered your mind?
1. Why is it men always fall asleep on Thanksgiving? Seriously I have dozens of pictures of sleeping uncles on the holidays. 2. I could go for a turkey sandwich with stuffing right now. 3. I would like to watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on Thanksgiving. 4. Then again, what movies are going to be out? Is that John Cusack 2012 movie out yet? 5. Why on earth was I thinking about that John Cusack movie?
What are the first 5 things that entered your mind?
1. I am definitely eating anything I want on Thanksgiving. 2. In order to make a good New Year's resolution, one really has to overindulge to feel the proper amount of guilt in order to make up some lofty goals. 3. I could definitely eat less pie. 4. I suppose the best way to not overindulge is to take periodic trips to the bathroom to slap your tummy or just give it a glance really. 5. Totally thinking of my Black Friday shopping plan at this point. This is where I NEED to use serious strength.
What are the first 5 things that entered your mind?
1. I don't dare, and thanks for bringing up the scale! 2. I have to say that those toes are creeping me out, but beyond that I want to slap that 120 pounder in the shnoz. 3. Is that how you spell shnoz? 4. Okay...New Year's goal is forming. 5. I need a scale that tells me a joke when I get on it. It would put me in a better mood. Or maybe a Far Side scale. Yeah, that might work.
What are the first 5 things that entered your mind?
1. I'm brave enough. I'm an woman who lived half her life on the East Coast. I have a very intimidating aura when I am shopping in crowds. I don't know exactly what it is, but people MOVE out of my way. 2. My goal is to pick up a PS3 (that is what me and my hubby have decided to get each other). 3. It is kind of scary how people are supposed to be shopping to get something nice for their loved ones, and they are truly so very obnoxious. Not all, but enough. 4. If I get everything done on Black Friday, I am going to make a huge batch of rum balls. No idea where that came from, but doesn't it sound yummy. 5. That lady in the pink scarf is kind of creepy. No offense meant. I am sure I look creepy too when I am entering a mall with my mouth wide open.
Yesterday my husband and I spent most of the day indoors. There wasn't a lot of enthusiasm for getting out and about. I woke up at 4:00 am Thursday and Friday and worked from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm at the studio because we had special guests from Food for the Hungry.We finally decided to get out of the house for three reasons:
1- Get the mail. I hate leaving mail in the box because our boxes are in a collective at the end of our street.
2- Fill up his car with gas.
3- Buy a lottery ticket or two. Yep...every now and then we throw caution to the wind and buy a ticket. It is nice to dream a little bit.
4- Browse Costco.
My husband loves the electronics, and I love the books. First, we checked out all the flat screen monitors and video games. Then we moved to MY section. :) While browsing I saw two books that literally screamed my name. Okay...maybe literally is a little bit away from the truth. I definitely felt the call deep in my bones.First: James Patterson's I, Alex Cross
I couldn't not want this book. James Patterson's Alex Cross books are probably my all time favorite for a series. I devour them. I also have a soft spot because they are the books that my dad and I both love. It is a family thing. Here is a little detail about it:
This description is from the Hachette Book Group website:
You can't run
Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim.
You can't hide
The hunt for her murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, very protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain--they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.
Alex Cross is your only hope to stay alive
As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable--a revelation that could rock the entire world. With the unstoppable action, unforeseeable twists, and edge-of-your-seat suspense that only a James Patterson thriller delivers, I, Alex Cross is the master of suspense at his sharpest and best.
The next book was HUGE. It was Stephen King's Under the Dome. I love Stephen King's work. He has been my go-to author for all things wiggy! I will never forget the first book I read (The Shining). It literally scared me so much that I had to put it down again and again and again just so I could get back to reality.
I eagerly picked up Under the Dome fully thrilled to see a new book that appealed to me from the get go! What was it about? Who will the lead characters be? I picked up the heavy tome and opened it up. There was no clue on the jacket at all as to what this book was about! Well there was the cover. I couldn't believe it! I handed it to my husband. He said "Hey, cool! What's it about?" I shook my head and shrugged. He then told me he was heading off to look at the jeans. I kissed him, and then turned back to the book. I opened it again and read the first page. I loved it! I had to have it!
Kelly's inner dialog (as best as I can recollect it): "I have the money. I can get it now." "Yes, but Thanksgiving is this week and you have dinner things to buy AND BLACK FRIDAY to contend with." "It is just one book. I'll buy it for Christmas." "Since when do you buy yourself something for Christmas?" "I WANT TO READ IT NOW!!!!" "Does that really matter? Is life really about what you want? You have books to read. You can wait." "This blows. I want the James Patterson book too." "Don't go there." "Fine." "Let Scott know you would like it." "YESSSS!"
This was followed by me resolutely setting "Under the Dome" down and quickly meeting my husband by the slacks. I smiled up at him and said. "I really want that Stephen King book!"Just that. The seed is planted. Maybe he'll get it for me for Christmas. When I got home, I immediately looked it up. I had to know more. Here is what I found from the Simon and Schuster website:
Description
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.
I also checked out the website for Under the Dome and the link to the Chester's Mill website. What a great way to get into a book! I had fun just checking out the links. Though since I work at a Christian radio station, I was a little bummed at the tune playing on the Christian radio website. What? No Switchfoot? The song playing does actually fit what I would expect though. Check it out: Chester's Mill
Lastly, I listened to Stephen King reading from the novel:Here' hoping I get my Christmas wish! :)PS- This posting was entirely of my own volition because of just being thrilled at the prospect of these two books. It was completely unsolicited.
